"Blyton, Enid - Famous Five 17 - Five Get Into a Fix" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

“Mountain air - that’s what the doctor ordered!” said Julian, biting into a juicy pear. “I suppose you don’t know somewhere like that we could go to, do you, Jenkins?”
“Well, my aunt now, she lets rooms in the summertime!” said Jenkins. “And a good cook she is, my Aunt Glenys. But the winter-time now - I’m not knowing if she’d do it then, what with the snow and all. Her farm’s on the hillside, man - and the slope runs right down to the sea. A fine place it is in the summer - but there’ll be nothing but snow there now, sure as I’m telling you.”
“But - it sounds exactly right,” said Anne, delighted. “Doesn’t it, Ju? Let’s call Mother! Mother! Mother, where are you?”
Her mother came running in, afraid that one of the children was feeling ill again. She was most astonished to see old Jenkins there - and even more astonished to hear the four children pouring out what he had just told them. Timmy added a few excited barks, and Jenkins stood twirling his old hat, quite overcome.
The excitement made Julian and Dick cough distressingly. “Now listen to me,” said their mother, firmly. “Go straight upstairs, and take another dose of your cough medicine. I’ll talk to Jenkins and find out what all this is about. No - don’t interrupt, Dick. GO!”
They went at once, and left their mother talking to the bewildered gardener. “Blow this cough!” said Dick, pouring out his usual dose. “Gosh, I hope Mother fixes up something with Jenkins’ aunt. If I don’t go off somewhere and lose this cough, I shall go mad - stark, staring mad!”
“I bet we’ll go to his old aunt,” said Julian. “That’s if she’ll take us. It’s the kind of sudden idea that clicks - don’t you think so?”
Julian was right. The idea did “click”. His mother had actually met Jenkins’ old aunt that spring, when she had come to visit her relations, and Jenkins had brought her proudly up to the house to introduce her to the cook. So when Dick and Julian went downstairs again, they were met with good news.
“I’m telephoning to Jenkins’ aunt, old Mrs. Jones,” said their mother. “And if she’ll take you - well off you can go in a day or two - coughs and all!”


Chapter Two

OFF TO MAGGA GLEN

Everything was soon settled. Old Mrs. Jones, whose voice came remarkably clearly over the long-distance call, seemed delighted to take the four children.
“Yes, Mam. I understand. Oh, their coughs won’t last a day here, don’t you be fretting, Mam. And how’s my nephew, Ifor Jenkins, Mam? It’s hoping I am that he’s still pleasing you. A wild boy he was, and...”
“Mother! Tell her we’re bringing a dog, too,” said Julian, in his mother’s ear. George had been making wild gestures to him, pointing first to Timmy, then to the telephone, where her aunt stood patiently listening to old Mrs. Jones’ gossipy talk.
“Oh - er - Mrs. Jones - there’ll be a dog, too!” said her aunt. “What - you’ve seven dogs already? Good gracious! Oh, for the sheep, of course...”
“Seven dogs, Timmy!” said George, in a low voice to Tim, who wagged his tail at once. “What do you think of that? Seven! You’ll have the time of your life!”
“Sh!” said Julian, seeing his mother glance crossly at George. He felt thankful that this unexpected holiday had been so quickly fixed up. Like the others, he was beginning to feel very down and dull. It would he wonderful to go away. He wondered where their skis were...
Everyone looked brighter when things had been settled. No school for some time! No lounging about the house wishing something would happen! Tirnmy would be able to go for long walks at last. They would be on their own again, too, a thing the Five loved.
Jenkins was very helpful in looking out toboggans and skis. He brought them all into the house to be examined and cleaned. Something exciting to do at last! Their exertions made them all cough badly, but they didn’t mind so much now.
“Only two days to wait - then we’re off!” said Dick. “Ought we to take our skates, do you think?”
“No. Jenkins says there’s no skating round about the farm,” said George. “I asked him. I say - look at that mound of woollen clothes your mother’s just brought in, Ju! We might be going to the North Pole!”
“Whew, Mother! If we wear all those, we’ll never be able to ski!” said Julian. “Gosh, look - six scarves! Even if Timmy wears one, that’s one too many.”
“One or two may get wet,” said his mother. “It won’t matter how many clothes you take - you’re going by car, and we can easily get everything in.”
“I’ll take my field-glasses, too,” said Dick. “You never know when they might be useful. George, old thing, I do hope Timmy will be friends with the farm dogs. It would be awful if he quarrelled with them - and he does sometimes get fierce with other dogs, you know - especially if we make a fuss of them!”
“He’ll behave perfectly,” said George. “And there’s no need to make a fuss of other dogs if we’ve got Timmy.”
“All right, teacher! ” said Dick, and George stopped her polishing and threw her duster at him. Yes - certainly things were getting normal again!
When the time came for the children to set out on their journey they were feeling a good deal better - though their coughs were still almost as bad! “I do hope you’ll lose those awful coughs, Julian, before you come back,” said his mother. “It worries me to hear you all cough, cough, cough, day and night!”
“Poor old Mother - you have had a time!” said Julian, giving her a hug. “You’ve been a brick. What a sigh of relief you’ll give when we’re all safely away in the car!”
At last the car came, driving up the snowy path to the house. It was a hired car, a very big one, and that was fortunate, as the children’s luggage was truly colossal! The driver was a cheerful little man, and he and Jenkins soon had the suit-cases, toboggans, skis and all the rest either in the boot of the car, or strapped on top.
“There we are, Mam!” said the driver at last. “Everything made fast. We’re making a nice early start, and we should be safe in Magga Glen before it’s dark.”
“We’re all ready to start!” said Julian and the little man nodded and smiled, climbing into the driving-seat. Dick sat beside him, and the other three sat at the back, with Timmy on their feet. Not that he would stay there long! He liked to look out of the window just as much as the children did!
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the car slid down the drive. They were off at last! Jenkins was at the gate, and waved as they went past.
“Remember me to my old aunt now!” he shouted, as he shut the gate.
The driver was very chatty. He soon heard all about their miserable holidays, and how much they were looking forward to their unexpected break before going back to school. In return he told them all about himself and his family - and as he had eleven brothers and sisters, his tale lasted for a good part of the journey!
They stopped for a meal in the car after some time, and found that they were hungry for the first time since they had been ill.
“Good gracious - I can really taste these sandwiches!” said George, in a surprised voice. “Can you, Anne?”
“Yes - they don’t taste of cardboard - like all our meals have lately,” said Anne. “Timmy - you’re not going to fare so well, now that we’re getting our appetites back!”
“He was a very good dustbin while we were ill, wasn’t he?” said Dick. “He simply gobbled up all the bits and pieces we couldn’t eat. Ugh - that boiled fish! It tasted like stewed knitting!”
They laughed - and that set them off coughing again. The driver listened and shook his head. “Nasty coughs you’ve got!” he said. “Reminds me of the time when me and my family got whooping-cough - twelve of us together. My, when we all whooped, it sounded like a lot of fire-sirens going off!”
That made the children laugh again, and cough. But somehow nobody minded the irritating coughs now - they would surely soon be gone, once they could get out into the country and try their legs at running and racing and skiing once again.
It was a long drive. All the children fell asleep in the car after their meal, and the driver smiled to see them lolling back against one another, looking very peaceful. Only Timmy was awake, and he climbed cautiously up between George and the window, wishing the window was open, so that he could put his big nose out into the wind, as he loved to do.
They stopped for a very early tea at a tea-shop in a village. “Better stretch your legs a bit,” said the driver, getting out. “I know I want to stretch mine. Look - I’m going into that place over there for my tea. There’s plenty of my pals there, and I’d enjoy a chat. You go and tuck in at this tea-shop here, and ask for their buttered crumpets. Best in the kingdom they are! Be back for you in a quarter of an hour - not longer, or we shan’t be at the farmhouse before dark. It’s still about an hour’s run, but there’ll be a moon later on.”
They were all glad to stretch their legs. Timmy bounded out as if he were on springs, barking madly. He was disappointed to find that they were only making a short stop - he had hoped they were at the end of their journey. But he was pleased to be given a buttery crumpet all to himself in the tea-shop. He licked every scrap of butter off first, much to the children’s amusement.
“I’d rather like to do that myself, Timmy,” said Anne. “But it’s not really good manners, you know! Oh, don’t make my shoe buttery - take your crumpet a bit farther away.”
They had time for two crumpets each, and a cup of hot tea. Julian bought some chocolate biscuits, as he felt unexpectedly hungry, even after two crumpets.
“Marvellous to feel even a bit hungry, after not being able to look even bread and butter in the face!” he said. “I knew we must be jolly ill that day we couldn’t eat even ice-cream though Mother tried to tempt us with some!”